House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(Newser)
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Immigration reform has no chance in the House, top Republicans privately tell Politico. GOP leaders, after many listening sessions, say that even the most popular parts of immigration reform will be difficult to get through; ultimately, they predict what Politico calls "a slow, months-long death." The site compares it to what happened with gun background checks: Conventional wisdom (that background checks were too popular to kill or, in this case, that killing immigration reform would be too risky in terms of alienating the Hispanic vote) simply proved wrong, because most House Republicans care more about catering to their mostly conservative white constituents.

Critical talks on immigration reform are taking place today, with House Republicans coming together to decide next steps, the Hill reports. On the Democrats' side, President Obama and Joe Biden are meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus today for a strategy session.

Not surprisingly, the White House is cheering the comprehensive immigration reform bill today, with a new report estimating the bill would increase GDP by 0.3 percentage points over two decades, encouraging job creation, job growth, and worker productivity. The report also says budget deficits would decrease.

Also today: George W. Bush will deliver a speech at a naturalization ceremony, during which he will note "the important contributions of immigrants to our society and economy," according to a statement. But the speech won't get political or push any specific agenda, a rep tells CNN. (Though Bush does want reform to pass.)

From a real immigrant, glad to be living in the U.S.-I can pursue my dreams and eventually have a career which will contribute to the GDP. For the rest of you ass_ets, sitting on your ass_ets-Where's the money for Social Security and Medicare going to come from? The only reason to deport immigrants should be if they commit crimes. How many Americans are 4th, 5th, generation Americans? Doesn't that mean that 4-5 generations ago your parents came from somewhere else?